ABSTRACT
One feature that a study of contested wills reveals is family relationships, which in the majority of cases emphasize the sins of envy, hatred, pride, greed and what the Prayer Book litany terms ‘blindness of heart and all uncharitableness’. Executors as well as relatives could be devious and therefore somewhat difficult to deal with in such cases. Shortly after Award’s death they were approached by Jeremiah Waring concerning a debt of £24 under a bond and obligation, the sum claimed being the penal amount. The executors seem to have been somewhat devious in this matter, since they promised to pay the debt but in reality all that was handed over was the 12s, where interest is due on the bond and not the capital sum. The executors admitted that they had sufficient resources to clear the bond although they had promised to do so by the previous 15 October under a court order obtained by Waring.
